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Book ./.L^...^. 



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409181 HPfi 



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United States Department of Agriculture, 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY— Circular No. 76. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS 

OP THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 
UNDER THE 

UNITED STATES STANDARD CONTAINER 
ACT OF AUGUST 31, 1916. 



IssxTBD Sbftembes 18, 1917. 



WASHINGTON : OOVBBNMBNT PBINTINQ OFFICB : 1817 



United States Department of Agriculture, 

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY— Circular No. 76. 



RULES AND REGULATIONS 

OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 
UNDER THE 

UNITED STATES STANDARD CONTAINER 
ACT OF AUGUST 31, 1916. 



Issued September 18, 1917. 



WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT FEINTING OFFICE : 1917 



RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE SECRETARY 
OF AGRICULTURE UNDER THE UNITED STATES 
STANDARD CONTAINER ACT. 



REGULATION 1.— DEFINITIONS. 

Section 1. Words used in these regulations in the singular form 
shaU be deemed to import the plural, and vice versa, as the case may 
demand. 

Sec. 2. For the purposes of these regulations, unless the context 
otherwise require, the foUov/ing terms shall be construed, respec- 
tively, to mean — 

Paragraph 1. Standard container Act. — The Act entitled "An Act To 
fix standards for Climax baskets for grapes and other fruits and 
vegetables, and to fix standards for baskets and other containers for 
small fruits, berries, and vegetables, and for other purposes," ap- 
proved August 31, 1916 (39 U. S. Stats, at Large, p. 673). 

Paragraph 2. Containers. — Chmax baskets for grapes and other 
fruits and vegetables, and baskets or other containers for small 
fruits, berries, and vegetables. 

REGULATION 2.— TOLERANCES AND VARIATIONS. 

Section 1. For the purpose of ascertaining whether a container 
is within the tolerances and variations as to capacity allowed by 
these regulations it shall be tested by the use of a dry measure, of the 
standard capacity applicable to such container, approved by the 
Bureau of Standards of the United States Department of Commerce. 
Such test shall be made with rape seed or other medium giving 
equivalent results. The capacity of the container shall be deter- 
mined by stricken measure; only the actual capacity when level full 
shall be considered, and such portion of the contents as may be heaped 
above the level of the top of the sides shall be disregarded, notwith- 
standing any raised cover which might permit the extension upwards 
of the contents. In m.aking such test both the container to be 
tested and the measure of standard capacity by the use of which it 
is to be tested shaU he filled with the testing medium, in the same 
manner and under the same conditions, by means of a hopper of the 
type customarily employed for the same purpose in State and Federal 
laboratories. 

Sec. 2. Paragraph 1. As prescribed in this section, the following 
tolerances and variations in the capacities of containers are found to 
be reasonable and necessary and are hereby allowed. 

Paragraph 2. The excess or deficiency in capacity of any container, 
over or under the capacity prescribed for such container in the 
standard container Act, as specified below in the column designated 
"Standard Capacity," may be as much as, but not greater than, the 
amount stated in cubic inches in the same fine in the column desig- 

(5) 



nated "Excess" or ''Deficiency," as tlie case may be; but, among any 
lot of containers which are not all of the standard capacity prescribed 
for such contamers by the standard container Act, the number over 
shall be as nearly equal as may be practical to the number under such 
standard capacity, within the tolerances and variations allowed there- 
for in this section. 



standard Capacity. 




1 bushel. , 
J bushel. 
12 quarts 

Ipcclc 

J peck 

2 quarts.. 
1 quart... 

1 pint 

J pint 



Paragrjiph 3. In case of a container having a capacity to which a 
standard is applicable which is not specified in the colmnn headed 
"Standard Capacity" in the foregomg table, the excess or the 
deficiency allowed shall be that permitted for the next smaller 
standard capacity specified in the table, but this shall not apply to 
containers for wliich variations and tolerances shall be permitted 
and established under the Act entitled "An Act To fix the standard 
barrel for fruits, vegetables, and other dry commodities," approved 
March 4, 1915 (38 U. S. Stats, at Large, p. 1186), when such varia- 
tions and tolerances become effective. 

Sec. 3. Paragraph 1. As prescribed in this section, the following 
tolerances and variations in dimensions of Climax baskets for grapes 
and other fruits and vegetables arc found to be reasonable and neces- 
sary and are hereby allowed, subject, however, to the tolerances and 
variations in capacity allowed in section 2 of these regulations. 

Paragraph 2. The excess or deficiency in any dimension specified 
below m the column designated "Dimensions,'' over or under the 
measurement prescribed for such dimension in section 1 of the 
standard container Act, may be as much as, but not greater than, 
the amount specified opposite such dimension in the colmnn desig- 
nated "Excess" or "Deficiency," as the case may be. 





Tolerances and 
variations. 


Dimensions. 


Excess. 


Defi- 
ciency. 




Inches. 

1 


Inches. 




i 




^ 




1 








I 


Combined Icnijth and width of top of 2-quart Climax basket, outside measurement.. 
Combined length and width of top of 4-quart Clima.x basket, outside measurement.. 
Combined length and width of top of 12 quart Climax basket, outside measui-cmcnt . 


i 

I 



UNITED STATES STANDARD CONTAINER ACT. 

(39 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 673.) 

«,^^ ''^^'^ T°^^^ standards for Climax baskets for grapes and other fruits and vegetables and to fix stand, 
ards for baskets and other contamers for small fruits, berries, and vegetables, and for othe?pi^S 

Be it enacted by tie Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America m Congress assembled, That standards for Climax 
baskets for grapes and other fruits and vegetables shall be the 
two-quart basket, four-quart basket, and twelve-quart basket 
respectively: ' 

(a) The standard two-quart Clunax basket shall be of the following 
dimensions: Length of bottom piece, nine and one-half inches- 
width of bottom piece, three and one-half inches; thickness of bot- 
tom piece, three-eighths of an inch; height of basket, three and seven- 
eighths inches, outside measurement; top of basket, length eleven 
inches and width five inches, outside measurement. Basket to have 
a cover five by eleven inches, when a cover is used. 

(b) The standard four-quart Climax basket shall be of the follow- 
ing dunensions: Length of bottom piece, twelve inches; width of 
bottom piece, four and one-half inches; thickness of bottom piece 
three-eighths of an inch; height of basket, four and eleven-sixteenths 
inches, outside measurement; top of basket, length fourteen inches 
width six and one-fourth inches, outside measurement. Basket to 
have cover six and one-fourth inches by fourteen inches, when cover 
is used. 

(c) The standard twelve-quart Climax basket shall be of the fol- 
lowing dimensions: Length of bottom piece, sixteen inches; width 
of bottom piece, six and one-half inches; thickness of bottom piece, 
seven-sixteenths of an inch; height of basket, seven and one-sixteentli 
inches, outside measurement; top of basket, length nineteen inches, 
width nine inches, outside measurement. Basket to have cover 
nine inches by nineteen inches, when cover is used. 

Sec. 2. That the standard basket or other container for small 
fruits, berries, and vegetables shall be of the following capacities, 
namely, dry one-half pint, dry pint, dry quart, or multiples of the 
dry quart. 

(a) The dry haK pint shall contain sixteen and eight-tenths cubic 
inches. 

(b) The dry pint shall contain thirty-three and six-tenths cubic 
inches. 

(c) The dry quart shall contain sixty-seven and two-tenths cubic 
inches. 

Sec. 3. That it shall be unlawful to manufacture for shipment, or 
to sell for shipment, or to ship from any State or Territory of the 
United States or the District of Columbia to any other State or Terri- 
tory of the United States or the District of Columbia, any Climax 
baskets or other containers for small fruits, berries, or vegetables, 
whether filled or unfilled, which do not conform to the provisions of 
this Act; and any person guUty of a wiUful violation of any of the 
provisions of this Act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and 
upon conviction thereof shall be fined in any sum not exceeding S25: 
Provided, That nothing herein contained shall apply to the manufac- 



8 

ture, sale, or sliipment of Cliniax baskets, baskets, or other contain- 
ers for small fruits, berries, and vegetables when intended for export to 
foreign countries when such Climax baskets, baskets, or other con- 
tainers for small fruits, berries, and vegetables accord with the speci- 
fications of the foreign purchasers or comply with the law of the 
country to which shipment is made or to be made. 

Sec. 4. That the examination and test of Climax baskets, baskets, 
or other containers for small fruits, berries, and vegetables, for the 
purpose of determining whether such baskets or other containers 
comply with the provisions of this Act, shall be made by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish 
and promulgate rules and regulations allowing such reasonable 
tolerances and variations as may be found necessary. 

Sec. 5. That it shall be the duty of each district attorney, to whom 
satisfactory evidence of any violation of the Act is presented, to cause 
appropriate proceedmgs to be commenced and prosecuted in the proper 
court of the United States for the enforcement of the penalties as in 
such case herein provided. 

Sec. 6. That no dealer shall be prosecuted under the provisions of 
this Act when he can estabhsh a guaranty signed by the manufac- 
turer, wholesaler, jobber, or other party residing within the United 
States from whom such Climax baskets, baskets, or other containers, 
as defhied in this Act, were purchased, to the effect that said Climax 
baskets, baskets, or other containers, are correct %vithin the meanhig 
of this Act. Said guaranty, to afford protection, shall contain the name 
and address of the party or parties making the sale of Climax baskets, 
baskets, or other contauiers to such dealer, and in such case said party 
or parties shall be amenable to the prosecutions, fines, and other 
penalties which would attach in due course to the dealer under the 
provisions of this Act. 

Sec. 7. That this Act shall be in force and effect from and after 
the first day of November, nineteen hundred and seventeen. 

Approved, August 31, 1916. 

o 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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